On Down Thru The Years
by daenabenjen42
Summary: ...in Brooklyn, life is lived by a family who didn't know they were waiting for anything. A backstory in drabbles, for UDC 8. [Barnes Extended Family, backstory for Sometime This Century and Importance of Family.]
1. UDC 8, Week One - The Home Front

Title: On Down Thru The Years...  
Author: daenabenjen42  
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe  
Characters: that list STARTS with Rebecca Barnes Proctor...  
Disclaimer: No... not me. I don't even know if I still have a set of Mickey Ears from the one and only time I've been to Disney Land...

A/N: This was going to be for a different fandom, but I keep seeing bits and pieces of the back story for Sometime This Century / Importance of Family, so... MCU it is for UDC 8! (How'd we get to eight? Wow...)

* * *

 **Week I - Prompts supplied by Mira_Jade - The Home Front**

* * *

1\. **Valor** [Emma Barnes, Rebecca Barnes Proctor... and Bucky]

* * *

It seemed ludicrous, the story about a USO Captain rescuing 400 men from a prison camp. Seemed that way, that was, until a letter arrived from Europe that Emma couldn't wait to open. It was the first news from her brother in two months!

A surprised shriek brought her sister, tired from a shift, running in from the apartment across the hall. "What? What is it?"

Emma looked up at her, then down at the letter. "You're not going to believe this."

"I'm not?" Rebecca wondered tiredly.

"Our brother was one of the 400. Says the guy who rescued them is a punk who needed to stay home!"

* * *

2\. **Honor** [Rebecca Barnes Proctor, William Proctor]

* * *

Her heart was in her throat as she waited for the ship to dock, after not having seen him in two years. He'd missed so much... so, so much. Soon enough, the docking procedures were complete, and sailors began disembarking.

She saw him on the gangplank, and suddenly her knees locked in place. Was this really happening, after so long? After the heartbreak they'd all had? It didn't feel right, that it should be.

"Now there's a sight for sore eyes," William said as he stopped and simply looked at her. With a cry, she hurried into his arms. There would be time enough for everything else...

* * *

3\. **Sacrifice** [Winnifred Barnes, Rebecca Barnes Proctor...]

* * *

The letters arrived after the news broke, about the plane going down with no trace. She watched her mother open each one and silently read, then set them aside, only to stare out the window for a long, long time.

Slowly, she picked up one of the letters, only for her mother to shake her head. "But..." Another shake, and her mother tapped a finger on the table while she set it back down.

A cry sounded, and Rebecca was drawn away, to see to her young ones.

Later, after her father had read them himself, she would.

* * *

4\. **Defeat** [William Proctor, Rebecca...]

* * *

He stared down into the crib, at once humbled and awed by the sleeping babes. "Why didn't you bring them?"

Rebecca leaned into him with a smile. "Too many people, and Mother wanted to watch them." She laid a hand down on the pink blanket. "This is Lillian Emma." Then the blue. "And this is Thomas Steven."

"Becca?"

"Hmmm?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Not being here, like I should have been."

She sighed. "You were here when it mattered, William. And you are here now. That's the important thing."

He glanced at the window, where two gold stars were hung. She had a point.

* * *

5\. **Victory** [Peggy Carter]

* * *

She watched in silence for long minutes as Peggy stood on the bridge and poured the vial into the water. They'd each had to say goodbye in their own ways, to the lost, and this, too, was important. The woman had shown up at her door with a story and a vial and a need not to be alone.

It didn't feel like a funeral, this moment of repose. It didn't feel like a victory, either. It did, however, feel like a goodbye. Of days gone by, of people lost.

Eventually, she approached her, took Peggy by the arm, and smiled. "Come on. Mother wanted to see you, and it's nearly dinner time."

Peggy allowed herself to be lead away.

* * *

A/N(2)...

For the sake of continuity: Emma saw Steve's new bigger self at Rebecca's actual wedding, but didn't connect him with "Captain America", and he didn't write to them between June '43 and November/December '43 when the rescue happened... and Rebecca's twins were born in early March '44 while William was at sea on a Navy ship in the Atlantic.


	2. UDC 8, Week Two - Something Hard

A/N: Context note after. And this something I usually only do for Robocop: The Series, but... Angst Warning.

* * *

 **Week Two** \- UDC 8 - Something hard...

* * *

6\. **Name**

* * *

Victor stared through the window, watching as the nurses doted on the babes. He didn't want to be standing here, considering what to name their son by himself. They'd discussed names for months, but hadn't settled... boy or girl. And now, as one of the nurses noticed him, smiled, and picked up his son from the bassinette, he didn't know what to do. What would she want?

A presence next to him made him startle, and he looked to find Hazel on one side and Rebecca on the other, being strong for him.

* * *

7\. **Title**

* * *

They'd stood there, admiring the baby boy for long, seemingly interminable, minutes before he spoke, his voice raw with emotion. "David."

"Good, strong name," Rebecca murmured. He could hear the undercurrent of pain in her voice, and wanted to look at her, but didn't dare. If he did, he wouldn't be able to hold it together.

"James." He felt, rather than saw, Hazel jump a little at that, and knew it was the right thing to say. "Middle name. She'd want that."

"She would," Hazel told him.

They stood there for a while longer.

* * *

8\. **Number**

* * *

It had been a blind date masquerading as a dinner party, Hannah found out as they settled down to eat with four children of varying ages, Victor, both of his sisters-in-law, and Winifred. The oldest, Mark, kept looking at her and frowning, as if he didn't like something but wasn't sure what to say. Finally, he simply passed the salt and pepper to her and looked away.

Eventually, Hazel and Rebecca and Winifred found ways to get the children out of the room, leaving only the two of them staring at each other from across the table. Victor shrugged. "They mean well."

Hannah laughed, reached over, and put her hand on his. "It's the best dinner I've ever had while being glared at by a ten year old."

Victor paused. "I'll have a talk with him."

"No, he needs time. And so do you."

* * *

9\. **Date**

* * *

It shouldn't have been something to give him pause, but it did as he stared at the calendar, at the year in the corner. Had it really been...? He counted on his fingers, suddenly realizing that it had been eleven years. Today would have been their twelfth wedding anniversary.

Mark later finds him still sitting there, staring at the calendar. "Dad?"

Victor says nothing as he pulls his son in for a hug and loses himself in the scent of his hair. He'd managed to put it out of his mind, until he saw the date...

* * *

10\. **Legacy**

* * *

Seated on the edge of her hospital bed, Victor watches and listens as Hannah sings to their youngest, now their third, another boy to join their now-combined total of four boys, counting this one, and two girls. They'd decided on a first name, Louis, but not a middle name. Rebecca had suggested Steven, but then that was expected. "So what do you think?"

Hannah smiled up at him. "I think... Emil."

He stared at her. "Really?"

"Really."

Victor leaned over and kissed her, then looked down at the baby to find him sleepily looking back at him. "Hello, Louis Emil Nettleton."

Louis simply yawned at him.

* * *

A/N: The context of this: Emma Barnes-Nettleton died in childbirth with her forth in 1954, but the baby survived. Victor went on to marry again in 1958.


	3. UDC 8, Week Three - Snapshots of Hazel

_**Qweb**_ : Nope, Emma wouldn't have wanted him alone. Definitely not.

 _ **Fierce_Queen**_ : I might actually have to do some color coding myself... ;)

* * *

 **Week Three** \- UDC 8 - Snapshots of Hazel Barnes-Foster...

* * *

11\. **Helpless** [Francesca "Fran" Hazel Talbot... great-grandchild]

* * *

Someone new was holding her. Someone who sang like her mother, but didn't exactly smell like her. She opens her eyes wide to look up, and sees the blurry face of a big person, a woman who is not her mother, smiling down at her. The woman continues to sing to her, the words unfamiliar. They don't make any sense, not yet.

She tries to follow, to sing with, but all that comes out to adult ears is soft cooing, and a big yawn that makes the big person laugh and continue to sing to her.

* * *

12\. **Satisfied** [Martha Blackwelder-Foster... grand-daughter-in-law]

* * *

Standing at graveside, watching as the coffin is lowered into the cold ground of Green-Wood Cemetary, she refuses to move even as the tears betray her and slide down her cheeks. Moving would mean giving in to this new reality, to the fact that this week really happened, that it wasn't some nightmare she was going to wake from.

"Martha."

She jumps, startled at the voice of her grandmother-in-law, and hears the strength and emotion underneath. "I can't." It comes out as a whisper, and she blinks at how faint her own voice is. "Hazel..."

"The children are watching," she reminded her in a low voice. "And we need to be strong, for them."

"For them?"

"Yes. Can you do that?"

Martha glanced back at them, at her three little ones bundled up against the cold, and nodded once.

* * *

13\. **Enough** [Richard Foster... husband]

* * *

For months, he'd been noticing how tired she got. That was all it had been, at first. Tiredness, then fevers that kept coming back, and the bruising combined with small red spots on her skin that could have been anything. She'd brushed every symptom off as "getting old is hard" and ignored it, and just marched forward, until she couldn't any longer and he'd finally had enough and dragged her to their family doctor.

Now, sitting in an uncomfortable chair and listening to all the options laid out by the Oncologist, he knew this was going to be hard.

* * *

14\. **Non-stop** [Jillian Mackenzie... niece-in-law/family adoptee]

* * *

The fourteen-year-old had been reading the textbook for an hour when the woman pulled it out of her hands and away. "Hey!"

"Oh," she said, with a smile. "You do speak, then. Good."

Jill glared up at her, at once on guard. "Mom wanted me to read. So did Dad."

Hazel passed the book back to her and pulled a chair closer to sit down. "Reading is a good thing, child. Can you knit?"

"Knit?"

She set two knitting needles down on the table. "Yes. Knit. You let me teach you, and I'll let you get back to your book."

* * *

15\. **Burn** [Rebecca Barnes Proctor... sister]

* * *

Arriving home, she found Hazel seated at her kitchen table, staring at the two faded but still vibrant gold stars, displayed like always in her kitchen window. Frowning, Rebecca looked from her, to the stars, and back again. "Um..."

"Seems like only yesterday," Hazel said after a long moment. "Doesn't it? That we were seeing him off for England? And Steve... we never did really get to say goodbye. Not in person, anyway."

"Hazel?"

"Becca, sit. Please?"

Rebecca sat. "All right. And yes... it does. And doesn't, at the same time." She studied her, knowing it was more than reminiscing. "But that wasn't what you wanted to discuss. Was it?"

"No."


	4. UDC 8, Week Four - Pets as Companions

A/N: As often as they have cameos in the main story (and even, in one case, quell nightmares with purring)... it's time for a pet set.

* * *

 **Week Four** \- UDC 8 - Pets as Companions

* * *

16\. **Hunger** [Alecto the Mystery Cat]

* * *

He was content to sit on the couch, to stare at nothing after the day he'd had, being social when it was the last thing he wanted right now. His parents... did the funeral have to be that big? Tony was startled out of his morbid thoughts when his new ball of fluff leaped up onto the couch, climbed onto his chest, and meowed in his face insistently.

He laughed and pet the tabby on the head. Alecto meowed again, and Tony pushed himself off the couch. He could take a hint, even if right then all he wanted to do was nothing.

* * *

17\. **Thirst** [Rescue Dog, Somewhere in Europe]

* * *

When Steve found him, Bucky was pouring water from a canteen into a dish, then silently watching as the dog drank hungrily, as if it hadn't had anything too drink in far too long. The dog drank all the water, then looked up at Bucky, panting, and leaned into him.

Bucky laughed, and Steve blinked, surprised at how his posture eased while he pet the dog and scratched behind it's ears. "You going to stand there, staring at us, or come over here and pet her?"

"Didn't want to intrude."

Colonel Phillips balked at the squad returning with an extra member that had four legs and a tail.

* * *

18. **Itch** [Gracie, Rebecca's Cat]

* * *

It didn't feel real that he was sitting here beside her, petting her two-year old tabby cat while still in a state of shock. She wanted to pinch herself, to make sure she wasn't imagining it, that he was, in fact, sitting here. When Joanne had told her, off-handedly, about an eye-witness account to a rescue in a bank during the battle, she hadn't known what to think. She wasn't sure now, either.

Reaching over, she joined Steve in petting Gracie, smiled at him. "This is Gracie."

Miriam watched them from the kitchen doorway, smiling all the while.

* * *

19\. **Yearn** [Jill's Holland Lop Rabbit(Melly)]

* * *

Kristy watched as Rob opened the door of the dog crate, then encouraged the sandy-colored animal out. Then she stared. "Rob, that's a rabbit, not a dog."

Rob laughed. "Jill raised him for her 4-H project two years back, and then he became a house pet." He hefted the rabbit up off the floor and cuddled him.

Kristy came closer and stroked him on the head, and he sniffed at her. "Cute."

"Yes, but can you imagine him in our house?"

She studied the rabbit for a minute, nodded. "Sure."

"It helps that he's cute and fluffy, doesn't it?"

* * *

20\. **Impulse** [Lucky the Pizza Dog]

* * *

She heard the back door open, and saw him run for the door to greet whomever it was out of the corner of her eye as she mixed up a batch of cookies with the potato masher. "Wipe your feet."

"Um... grandma?"

Kathryn looked up from the bowl to smile at Jonas's befuddled expression as he stared down at the dog smelling his jeans. "Yes?"

"Since when have you had a Golden Retriever?"

"He's a guest," Kathryn told him. "And you've met Lucky before."

Jonas frowned, but bent down and let him smell his hand. "Oh! Didn't recognize him!"


	5. Week Five, UDC 8 - Family Concerns

**Week Five** \- UDC 8 - Family Concerns [Hazel and Rebecca]

* * *

21\. **Dinner**

* * *

Rebecca set about warming up dinner for herself while Hazel continued to look toward the window. "If that's not why you're here..."

"I want your advice."

Rebecca turned the knob on the stove to heat up the oven. "How about dinner? You must be famished."

Hazel sighed. "Not hungry."

"I'm heating up enough for two, just in case."

"And William?"

"Went to a show with Victor and Hannah, and took Jill with him."

Hazel smiled. "That girl... you know, her mother didn't teach her to knit? We spent an hour on that."

"Is that where Melly's blue hat came from? I wondered."

* * *

22\. **Theater**

* * *

Rebecca closed the oven door and then turned back to look at her sister. "So what did you want to discuss?"

Hazel looked at her, and then unrolled the sleeve of her shirt. "You saw these before, tried to ask me about it. Rob did, too, actually. I don't know what it is about you medical people, but-"

"Stop," Rebecca told her as she pulled up a chair and sat down to get a better look at the bruising. "We medical people ask and probe because it's what we're trained to do and notice. Little things, like this. Well?"

* * *

23\. **Pint**

* * *

"It's not a little thing," Hazel said, her voice barely above a whisper. "And I..." A tap on her arm, and she looked at her younger sister. "What?"

"Whatever it is, and you don't have to tell me right now, we will deal with it the way we always have. As a family, Hazel." She nodded toward the window and the Gold Stars. "We got Mother and Father through the worst days of their lives, we can do this."

Hazel nodded slowly. "And if..."

"We're not talking about that if, right now. Tomorrow. All right?"

"All right."

* * *

24\. **Shot**

* * *

William entered the house with a very quiet teen at his side, peered into the kitchen at his wife who was sitting quietly with her sister at the table, and turned to look at Jill. "Go get Melly. And his hat."

Jill frowned at him, but nodded and went. She came back two minutes later with the rabbit in her arms, and the rabbit himself wearing the knitted hat. William directed her into the kitchen, and then watched as she went to the table. Hazel took one look at her and chuckled outright.

* * *

25\. **Alcohol**

* * *

"Oh come here, you! Both of you!"

Rebecca turned to look at William, standing in the doorway, nodded, and then turned her attention back to Hazel as Jill handed Melly to her, and then pulled up another chair. "So Jill? How was the movie?"

Jill glanced at her, hesitated, then shrugged. "The bartender got the girl. I liked it."

William chuckled. "So did Hannah. And overall, it wasn't bad."

Hazel frowned at him. "Bartender?"

"Cocktail, with Tom Cruise."

"Oh!" She smiled down at the rabbit in her arms. "He does look good in the hat."

* * *

A/N: Context note for use of the movie Cocktail... that puts this very firmly at the beginning of August 1988.


	6. UDC 8, Week Six - Home in Bucharest

**Week Six** \- UDC 8 - Angela Nettleton, Anton Pasternak, and...

* * *

26\. **Dream**

* * *

Only a few years ago, this would have been impossible. To walk in this city, in this country, her hand in his. The country had been behind the Iron Curtain for half a century, out of reach but never out of mind. But here they were, two opposites who had met by accident, walking hand in hand down a street in her Great-Great Grandmother's native land.

Angela smiled as her fiancé stopped at a food vendor and got them both a treat. "What is that?"

Anton returned her smile as he handed her one. "This? Translates to Chimney Cake."

* * *

27. **Stars**

* * *

She found him on the roof of their apartment building, watching the stars with a wistful expression, and joined him with a grin. "Anything interesting up there?"

"La fel ca întotdeauna," fell from his lips without his realizing he'd even said it and her smile widened. "Cerul este plin de diamante."

Angela laughed. "Diamonds?"

Anton blinked, startled out of his reverie. "Angie..."

"It's not inaccurate. And I love it when you speak Romanian."

They shared a kiss with the stars as witness, and he mumbled a question in his native tongue. Her answer was another kiss and a whispered 'yes.'

* * *

 _Translation from Romanian: "Same as always. The sky is full of diamonds."_

* * *

28\. **Barricade**

* * *

Their pizza came, and Anton watched as she first stared at it, with the ham and the pickles, then covered her mouth and ran from the table. Frowning, he looked down at the pizza. It didn't seem odd to him, and usually she loved this.

A few minutes went by, and then she rejoined him with a sheepish expression. "Sorry."

"Is something wrong?"

"Hmmm?" She stared again at the pizza, looked away. "No. Just... nauseated today."

He reached over, took her hand in his, and she looked at him in confusion. "It's okay to be nauseated. We're all sick from time to time."

* * *

29\. **Rain**

* * *

It was raining, cold and windy outside, when she discovered the reason for her nausea. Angela stared at the test stick in her hand for long minutes, hardly believing it. They'd been so careful, and yet...

"Anghel?"

She blinked at the accented and familiar voice, and turned to look at him, framed there in the doorway. Wordlessly, she held out the stick and he took it with a frown.

Anton studied it for a long, long minute before setting it down on the counter and taking her in his arms. She allowed it, and they shared a kiss right there in the bathroom.

* * *

30\. **Home**

* * *

Turning onto a street toward home in downtown Bucharest, Angela frowned at the activity in the sky. A helicopter was hovering near an apartment building, and... was that a flying person? Deciding precaution was the better part of valor, she parked the car quickly and turned to her teenage son. "Stay in the car."

Mitica nodded, and then they were both witness to three men landing on the ground one right after the other. He frowned. "Was that Captain America?"

Stunned, Angela watched as they all three ran around a corner. "If it is, he runs like a girl."

Mitica fought to suppress a giggle.


	7. UDC 8, Week Seven - Bland Proposal

A/N: Jill, upon her introduction chapters ago during Sometime This Century, fed Steve the wacky cliff notes version of her back story. Steve, because he was utterly distracted by other life things, accepted it at face value and didn't ask further questions. He really, really should have asked...

* * *

 **Week Seven** \- UDC 8 - It's a boy, a boy, and... a girl? Wait. What?

* * *

31\. **Tangy**

* * *

They were enjoying a traditional cafeteria breakfast, a norm for them ever since William had retired from active service, when they were interrupted by their granddaughter and her sister-in-law and an interesting story of repeated morning emesis. Rebecca stared at Jill for long moments as the seventeen-year-old, abnormally pale with dark circles under her eyes, studied her hands. "And?"

"And," Kristy said pointedly, with a motion at Jill. "I need a second opinion for what I suspect. I didn't want to stress Rob out, so close to his boards, so..."

Rebecca nodded. "So how long have you been tired and nauseated, Jill?"

Her answer was almost too soft to hear... "Since just after Spring Break."

* * *

32\. **Sweet**

* * *

After tucking his pregnant younger sister into bed and reading a book with her until she'd fallen asleep, Rob sighed as he entered the living room and joined his wife on the couch. "So..."

"There's time enough," Kristy told him without looking up from her medical journal. "To worry about logistics. And like you said this morning to Jill: this is a good thing. Not perfect, but good."

Rob paused. "It is, isn't it?"

"Um-hmm..."

"Anything interesting in that journal?"

Kristy glanced at him. "You want to hear about hemorraghes with Endosseous Implants?"

"I'd love to."

* * *

33\. **Spicy**

* * *

The ride home to Brooklyn had been silent as Damian stared out the window of Victor and Hannah's car, and he couldn't help but wonder how he'd let the woman talk him into this quick visit when he had his own car. He'd spoken to Jill last week, she'd been tired from school but fine. Other than that...

"You'll see soon enough," Hannah muttered at him from the front seat.

Damian jumped in his seat, startled. "I didn't say anything."

Victor chuckled. "No, but we've raised seven children together, Mister Pentel."

"And you remind me of Mark," Hannah said after a moment. "Moody."

* * *

34\. **Bitter**

* * *

Standing at the front door of the home his girlfriend shared with her brother and his wife felt surreal, Damian reflected as Victor knocked. A familiar voice called "just a minute!", and then the door opened to reveal Jill, out of breath and... Damian stared at her. Had she put on weight?

Jill composed herself quickly, and then glared at Victor. "I was going to tell him myself. You didn't need to do this, Victor."

"We were in the neighborhood," Victor said with a smile. "And enough was enough. Can we come in?"

She continued to glare at him as she stepped aside.

* * *

35. **Bland**

* * *

At dinner that evening, Rob couldn't help but continue to glance at Damian, who had been very quiet since the revelation that he was going to be father. They hadn't ironed out the details of it all yet, because Jill had been focusing on her school work for college. "So..."

"Will you marry me?" Damian blurted, then blinked at the four of them. "Um..."

Jill smiled and took a bite of her bland soup, swallowed. "We're not talking about that right now, but... when we are? Yes."

"Though you'll probably not be touching my sister again for a long time," Rob muttered into his own soup. Under the table, Jill kicked his foot. "Hey!"


	8. UDC 8, Week 8 - Mothers and Daughters

**Qweb** : Even funnier about Jill giving Steve Cliff's Notes was that Rebecca and Miriam let her get away with it due to Jill needing to keep emotional distance...

* * *

 **Week Eight** \- UDC 8 - Mothers and Daughters

* * *

36\. **Rebellion** [Miriam and Elizabeth]

* * *

"So how was the library?"

Miriam froze in the motion of taking off her jacket, turned to see her mother standing there, an unreadable expression on her face. "What time is it?"

Her mother, Elizabeth, simply unbuckled the watch from around her wrist and handed it to the seventeen year old, who stared at it for long moments. "We have no libraries that are open until midnight, young lady."

"How much trouble am I in?"

Elizabeth smiled. "That depends on how good your date was."

Miriam sighed. "Do we have to do this now, Mother?"

"Is there a better time?"

* * *

37\. **Revolution** [Miriam and Maureen]

* * *

It was something else, meeting a flesh and blood living legend for the first time while wearing a hospital gown and wanting a brush to deal with her messy hair. Maureen smiled and did her best to be nice to Captain America as her mother introduced him first to herself, and then to the newest baby in the family while Aunt Rebecca stood waiting by the door with a grin that made her seem years younger.

Finally, they left, and her mother sat down on the edge of the bed with the baby boy in her arms. She smiled. "You did well."

"I did?"

Miriam smiled at her. "I'm not sure I could have been that refined the day after giving birth to you, in front of someone so famous."

"I want a brush, Mom."

"Really? Your hair looks fine to me."

* * *

38\. **Freedom** [Abiah and Jane]

* * *

It was a thick book she found her daughter reading at a very early hour, the day after Adam's funeral. "What is that?"

Jane looked up, a serious expression on her young face. "It's about the law. You had it on your book shelf."

Abiah joined her at the table, frowning. "Jane..."

"I like it. It's straight-forward."

Abiah paused, wondering what had brought this on. Last week, she'd wanted to be a dancer... "Complex, too."

"Makes it more interesting." Jane frowned. "Mom? Why can a fine of twenty-five dollars be levied for flirting?"

"That, there, is a perfect example of something complex, Jane."

* * *

39\. **Martyr** [Natalie and Hannah]

* * *

The teenager was standing in the doorway of her hospital room when she woke from her nap, watching her. "Natalie?"

Natalie jumped at the sound of her voice, startled. "I... I'll just go. Sorry. Didn't-"

"Stop," Hannah told her, patting the bed next to her. "Come here, Sweetie." She glanced at the clock. "And didn't you have school today?"

Natalie joined her, took a deep breath. "I wanted to see you. And Lou."

"Oh?"

She nodded. "Can I call him Lou?"

"Of course you can, he's your little brother."

Natalie stared at her. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Include all of us as if it's the most natural thing in the world?"

* * *

40\. **Veteran** [Rebecca and Kathryn]

* * *

Kathryn stood at the foot of the ramp of the quinjet with her elderly mother and simply held her up, held onto her as she allowed herself this moment of weakness to let go her emotions. She felt, rather than saw, Steve's presence next to them, and wanted to send him up the ramp, out of sight of something so intimate and familial, but didn't dare break the moment. If her mother had been hiding so much, then how much was he?

"Kate?" Rebecca finally said. "You can let go now."

She did, only to draw Steve into the hug.

* * *

A/N: There really is a law in New York state about a fine of twenty-five dollars being levied for flirting...


	9. UDC 8, Week 9 - Hannah Bailey-Nettleton

A/N: A request was made for more Hannah Bailey-Nettleton, so...

* * *

 **Week Nine** \- UDC 8 - Hannah Bailey-Nettleton

* * *

41\. **Bright**

* * *

Stepping out of the movie theater into the bright afternoon sun, Hannah blinked into the glare. The woman beside her was still shaking, upset from the heckler who had mouthed off during the newsreel. "Come on."

"Where did he go, do you think?"

"Mae..." Just then, a man hurried past them with an upset expression and a bloody lip, and they both stared after him for a moment before looking in the opposite direction. Hannah frowned at who she saw exiting the alley, several store fronts away. "Oh. Didn't you say you were meeting Emma for something this afternoon?" Mae nodded. "Then let's go."

* * *

42\. **Star**

* * *

Emma was waiting at a cafe with both of her sisters, and frowned at both of them as she took in the expression on Mae's face. "Was the movie that bad?"

Mae sighed as she pulled out a chair and sat down. "When Paul get's back from the Pacific, he'll want to shake Rogers's hand for keeping me out of jail for assault."

Emma glanced at both of her sisters. "Steve... kept you out of a fight?"

Hannah smiled. "It wouldn't have gone that far, but yes. He did. And then, from the looks of things, your brother saved him."

"Ah," Emma said with a smile. "One of those days."

* * *

43. **Mama**

* * *

The question wasn't something she'd been expecting from Natalie, but then if parenting were predictable, it'd be easy. It wasn't easy, not by a long shot. "Come sit, Natalie. Please?"

Natalie sighed, and sat down on the hospital bed. "I..."

"I'm going to tell you something," Hannah said as she picked up the locket that had been laying on the bedside cabinet. "And show you. Here."

Natalie took the locket from her and carefully opened it, to find two pictures. One of her own mother, and another of a man she'd never met before but had seen maybe once... she wasn't sure where, but she had.

* * *

44\. **Please**

* * *

It made no sense, that Hannah would have either in a locket she always wore. "I don't understand..."

Hannah watched as she stared at the small pictures. "Your mother was a friend, Natalie. My friend. The war... changed so much. Changed people. Some, like your uncle, never came home. You ask me how I can include you so naturally? How can I not? You are hers. You are Emma's. But also mine."

Natalie glanced up at her. "I... I'm sorry."

"For what? Being a teenager and needing to ask questions? I want you to ask. That is how you learn."

* * *

45\. **Shine**

* * *

The locket still in her hand, Natalie smiled. "You never take this off."

"No."

"Why not?"

Hannah smiled and pulled her close. "Because reminders are important, sweet one. Always and often." Over Natalie's shoulder, she noticed Rebecca, clad in her uniform, watching them with a smile, and waved her off. Rebecca nodded and left them alone.

"Even if sometimes they hurt?"

"Even then, Natalie."

A minute or so later, Rebecca reappeared, this time with a hospital bassinette. "Since you're here, Natalie, do you want to meet your baby brother?"

Natalie quickly gave the locket back to Hannah, and stood up to look into it at Louis. "He's so... tiny."


	10. UDC 8, Week 10 - Mark and Hannah

**Qweb** : Mark and Hannah, huh? Okay. :)

* * *

 **Week Ten** \- UDC 8 - Mark Nettleton and Hannah Bailey-Nettleton

* * *

46\. **Raise**

* * *

She could feel the glare without looking up from the task she'd set for herself in the kitchen, cutting tomatoes for dinner. It hadn't been simple or easy, integrating into this family that she knew so well from the outside. Not at all. Finally, she put the knife down and raised her head to look at Mark. "Well? You going to stand there, or help me?"

Mark continued to frown at her. "I... what do I call you? You're..."

Hannah flashed a smile at him. "Mark, you can call me by my name. I will not ask you to call me anything else. Now... what do you say? Help me finish making dinner?"

He did.

* * *

47. **Juvenile**

* * *

Mark peeked into the baby's room to see Hannah standing at the crib, peering down at his new baby brother, and wondered why she didn't seem happy. This was a happy time... right? "Hannah?"

She jumped, startled, then turned to look at him, and that's when he saw the tears. Hurriedly, she wiped them away with the back of her hand. "Oh. Mark, don't startle me like that."

"Why are you crying?"

Hannah stared at him for another moment before turning back to look down at Charlie. "Come here."

"Huh?" She beckoned him to join her, and he did, also to look down at his sleeping baby brother.

* * *

48\. **Mature**

* * *

They stood there together for long minutes before Hannah spoke again, her voice a raw whisper. "He reminds me so much of Franklin, Mark."

Mark frowned, and turned to look at her. "Who?"

She smiled at the thirteen-year-old, but it didn't reach her eyes the way her smiles normally did. "My son. He would have been about your age, if he'd lived. He died when he was five months old, Mark. Standing here, I was thinking of that. Of him."

"Oh." He glanced down at Charlie. "So... Does Dad know?"

Hannah nodded. "Your father and mother were at his funeral. So were you."

* * *

49\. **Growth**

* * *

"I've never asked this before," Mark began as he strode into the kitchen to find both his step-mother and his sister preparing dinner. "But... um... this is a bad time to ask."

Natalie rolled her eyes at her sixteen-year-old brother while Hannah laughed. "Really?"

"You can ask, Mark," Hannah told him with a smile. "What didn't you ask before?"

"Where is Franklin's father?" Then he winced. "That came out wrong."

"No, it didn't, and I've wondered that myself."

Natalie looked at both of them oddly. "Who or what are you talking about?"

Hannah, wisely, chose not to answer that right then and there.

* * *

50\. **Elder**

* * *

Knocking on her step-son's bedroom door, Hannah looked in and found him at his desk, doing homework. "Can I come in?"

"Free country," Mark told her without looking up.

Hannah smiled and moved to sit down on his bed, a small photo album in her hands. "You asked a question, Mark. I want to answer it." He turned to look at her curiously, and she opened the album to show him the first picture, of herself with a baby. "I don't have any pictures of Greg, because he worked long hours at the docks, but this... this was Franklin. Emma took this one."

Mark took the offered album from her and stared at the picture, then looked at her. "So... when you say you don't know where his father is..."

"I really don't."

He wanted to ask more, but the pain clearly written in her eyes told him not to.


	11. UDC 8, Week 11 - Baby Number Six

**Week Eleven** \- prompts provided by Briannakin - Surprise Baby Number Six

* * *

51\. **Go**

* * *

The atmosphere in the car seemed unsettled as their mother drove home through the busy streets, and Allison couldn't help but sneak glances at her, wondering why she seemed so tense. "Mom?"

"Hmmm?"

"Is something wrong?"

Her mother waited until the car was stopped at a red light, then looked at her with a smile. "No. Why?"

"Noodles!" Kimberly called from the backseat, followed by giggles from her younger sisters and Allison blinked at how suddenly the tension evaporated. The light changed, and with a "go light!" from Josie, their mother put the car in gear and off they went again.

* * *

52\. **Wait**

* * *

Pulling into their driveway, Allison frowned at the extra car parked out front. "What's Aunt Natalie doing here?"

Her mother parked the car, turned the ignition off, and then paused while she unbuckled her seatbelt. "She's here to visit with you while I talk to your Dad, Ally." At her perplexed expression, the woman sighed. "Help me, please?"

Something in her mother's posture convinced Allison to not ask any more questions as she helped her sisters out of their seatbelts. Whatever it was, it was clear that her mother didn't want to talk about it yet. Or wouldn't... and for some reason, as she looked at the youngest of her six year old twin sisters, this series of events was giving her deja vu.

* * *

53\. **Rise**

* * *

Natalie was seated on the couch with her daughter Stephanie, reading a book aloud while David played with Legos on the floor with eight-year-old Christopher, when Caroline came in the door with four excited little girls and a puzzled Allison. Caroline smiled. "You're missing one, Natalie."

Natalie grinned. "Nope. He's spending quality time with Kevin at a troop meeting. Come join us on the couch, girls! Dave? Shoo! Ally can play with Chris."

Allison set her back pack down by the door and watched as her father levered himself off the floor. "Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Mom's been acting oddly."

David chuckled and gently pushed her toward the pile of Legos. "Play with your cousin, Ally. For me."

"Okay..."

* * *

54. **For**

* * *

David leaned against the doorjam in the kitchen, studying his wife as she moved to sit at the already-set table. This morning had been her doctor's appointment, and if his suspicions were correct... "Well?"

"It's not twins again," Caroline told him with a weary smile. "One heartbeat. Due in December."

Smiling, he pulled a chair over and joined her. "Baby number six?"

"Baby number six," she murmured, and he caught her hands in his. "Dave?"

"Hmmm?"

She motioned to the telephone mounted on the wall near the door. "Call Hannah."

"Now?"

"Definitely."

* * *

55\. **Against**

* * *

It was early the next morning after a long night of waiting that the five of them got to see their mother and the new baby. Lori couldn't wait to meet her new baby sister, and frowned at the color of the blanket in her mother's arms. She looked at her father, seated on the edge of the bed next to her, then turned and regarded her Aunt Becca with a puzzled expression. "Did they run out of pink blankets?"

Rebecca smiled and led the ten-year-old over. "No, Lori. Your mother and father want to introduce you to someone. All of you."

"It's a boy," Allison said in wonder as she got her first look at his little face and pulled her sister closer. "Our own little brother!"

"That answers how we tell them," David murmured into Caroline's hair, and she laughed. In her arms, being doted on by his sisters, Mason yawned.

* * *

A/N: For those unfamiliar with the story line... this baby boy has been hanging out with Rebecca Barnes Proctor during both Importance of Family and Sometime This Century... this would be Mason Nettleton.


	12. UDC 8, Week 12 - November 1987

**Week Twelve** \- UDC 8 - Mackenzie/Blake Wedding, November 1987

* * *

56\. **Break** [David and Caroline Nettleton, Relatives of the Bride]

* * *

She was, for once, without children within five feet of her person as she took in the reception hall and the various family members milling about and having a grand time interacting. Three of her little girls were running around the dance floor with their cousins... something that brought a smile to her lips as a familiar hand graced her shoulder. She leaned into him and glanced up. "Hi."

"I see three of our six..." David began, a question in his tone that caused her smile to widen, and she pointed to another table, where Hannah was entertaining the other two, plus their ten month old son, and the little sister of the Groom. "Oh."

* * *

57\. **Quiet** [Mary and Paul Mackenzie, Parents of the Groom]

* * *

The noise of the room after the quiet of the ceremony wasn't helping her ever-present headache as she watched her son share his first dance with his new wife. It was better, now that the little ones weren't running around and screaming, but... "Were we ever that young?"

Beside her, her husband chuckled. "Doesn't feel like it, today."

Mary leaned into him, content to enjoy the moment in spite of her headache. "Paul?"

"Hmmm?"

"Good choice for their first dance."

"Certainly better than that song that Rob wanted, originally. Something new, catchy, but too fast. By Rick Somebody..."

Despite herself, Mary snorted in laughter, knowing exactly which song that was.

* * *

58\. **Lives** [Lillian and Eugene Blake, Parents of the Bride]

* * *

Escorting their oldest daughter down the aisle together, Lillian smiled at the expression on Rob's face at the sight of his bride. She remembered seeing her husband look at her like that on their wedding day, and for a moment it felt like only yesterday. Reaching the altar, Kristy turned to Eugene and he lifted her veil reluctantly, smiling back at her.

The question came, and as one they answered as Kristy joined Rob at the altar... "We do."

Glancing to the side where the bridesmaids were standing, Lillian couldn't help but smile at how the youngest bridesmaid, Rob's little sister, was bouncing on her heels from excitement.

* * *

59\. **Dies** [Jillian Mackenzie, Sister of the Groom]

* * *

Standing near the altar while her brother an Kristy said their vows, Jill couldn't help but glance around at how many people were on Kristy's side of the aisle. Rob had told her that his fiance came from a big family, but actually seeing it was another thing entirely. Their family wasn't this big at family parties... and she was wishing Aunt Aislinn had been able to come with them from Brewer, to be here and share the moment. Pictures weren't the same as actually being present.

A hand on her shoulder caused her to jump at being startled and she glanced back at Kristy's cousin Anna, another of the Bridesmaids. "What?"

"Ceremony's over," Anna told her, smiling. "We follow."

Had she been spacing out for that long?

* * *

60\. **Story** [Robert Mackenzie and Kristy Blake-Mackenzie, Bride and Groom]

* * *

When Kristy finally found her new sister-in-law in the crowd of family, she smiled at how Hannah was keeping several of the kids, half the teens, and ten month old Mason occupied with a story. She wondered for a moment what kind of story, as all of the kids in the group were paying close attention to every word. "Interesting..."

"Oh?" Rob asked from beside her at the head table.

"Seems the kids are being entertained."

He frowned, searching the crowd, then smiled. "Ah."

And then their attention was collectively taken by another family member wishing them both congratulations.

* * *

A/N: The father of the Groom over-ruled his son on Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" for the first dance and instead consulted with the Bride and went with a mix that included Frank Sinatra's Fly Me To The Moon. Hannah was telling Brooklyn stories.


	13. UDC 8, Week 13 - Spring 1988

**Week Thirteen** \- All Was Not Well in the State of Maine... (Spring 1988)

* * *

61\. **Uprising**

* * *

Seated at the kitchen table and studying for her 8th grade finals, Jill wasn't really listening to her father as he chatted on the phone with Rob until he said something about a doctor's appointment in relation to her mother. Then she frowned and looked up, knowing full well that it'd been more than a doctor's visit. Her frown deepened when she realized that her mother was standing there, signing furiously at him in ASL, frustration written on her face.

Jill's mouth dropped open in shock at the sheer amount of non-verbal swearing going on. If her mother had been able to speak, she was sure that her father wouldn't have been able to outright ignore her the way he was.

* * *

62\. **Negotiate**

* * *

Staring out at the school building with her classmates milling about in front of it, Jill hesitated and glanced back at her aunt. "Aunt Aislinn?"

"Hmmm?"

"Rob doesn't know yet. About Mom. Dad refused to tell him." She paused, moved to open the car door, then hesitated again and frowned. "Something about the first year being the hardest? Whatever that means."

Aislinn nodded slowly, but her expression stayed neutral. "We'll call him together, then, all right? Tomorrow."

"Okay."

* * *

63\. **Convince**

* * *

"And Jill?" She waited for the teenager to glance at her again. "I'll be back after school to pick you up."

Jill shook her head. "I can walk to Eastern Maine, and you have clients."

Aislinn smiled. "My clients would understand if I brought you along, and you like house showings."

Jill sighed. "But Dad..."

"And we will take him dinner and make him go home tonight, too." She nodded to the school building. "Now go embrace the normality of finals, all right?"

"Normality of finals? There is no such thing!"

"There is today!"

* * *

64. **Overthrow**

* * *

They'd been home for twenty minutes from having dinner with her Aunt when she heard the crash of a glass breaking and then something heavier falling in the kitchen and rushed to see what happened. Standing in the doorway, she stared at the sight of her father pulling himself to a sitting position, his skin a pasty yellow-white. "Dad?"

"Phone," he gasped out and she quickly brought the cordless to him.

"What number?"

"Ambulance," he whispered, pain written in his tone.

She stared at him again, then nodded and did exactly that, calling her friend Mandy's father's work number from memory.

* * *

65\. **Unite**

* * *

The teenager she found when she got to her sister's house was utterly silent and seated on the front steps with a Paramedic seated next to her while officers went in and out. She squinted at the Paramedic for a moment in non-recognition, and then realized that she knew him. "Trevor?"

The man glanced up at her, frowned, then nodded and returned his attention to Jill, whispered something to her that caused her to look up. And then she was running to her and hugging her. Aislinn blinked, startled, and looked to Trevor for answers. He nodded to the house and shook his head.

Standing there on the front walk, all she could do was hold on to her niece.


	14. UDC 8, Week 14 - Late May 1988

**Week Fourteen** \- Once a Brewer Witch, Always a Brewer Witch... (Late May, 1988)

* * *

66\. **Talk**

* * *

Walking to the front stoop, feeling the cool late May breeze, Kristy could almost let herself forget that this was about as far from a social call as they would ever get. At the door, they were met by Rob's aunt, who hugged him as soon as she saw him, and then turned to her and frowned. "And you are?"

"Kristy," she said, holding out her hand. "You must be Aislinn. Am I pronouncing that right?"

Aislinn smiled and shook her hand. "You are. Come in."

"How is she?" Rob asked as they set foot inside and Aislinn closed the door behind them. "And I would have been here sooner if either of them had called me."

Aislinn sighed. "Rob, it was very sudden, and... I'm still waiting on the coroners report for your father. What we know so far, is that he wasn't well for a while, but hiding it because your mother was ill. And... Jill was there for your Dad." She motioned to the kitchen, where Jill herself sat, ignoring them and doing homework. "She hasn't spoken since."

Kristy peered at the teenager for a minute, waiting for something, anything from her, but she didn't even look up and acknowledge them. "That's not good."

* * *

67\. **Silence**

* * *

Rob pulled up a chair and sat close to his thirteen-year-old sister, watching her as she read the text book without acknowledging him. He wanted to touch her, to talk to her, but didn't dare touch her. If she'd been there, there was no telling how much of this was emotional shock, and how much of it was her being a teenager.

A couple minutes went by before she looked up from the text book, saw him, went back to reading the book... and then looked at him again with a blank expression. And then she blinked, and practically tripped over herself, scrambling to get into his waiting arms with a voiceless cry. "Oh, hey. I'm here, Jill. I'm here."

* * *

68\. **Smile**

* * *

Rob glanced at Jill, silent beside him on their family lawyer's couch, and wondered what she thought about the reading of the will. Darrell got to the end and looked at them. "And that's it. Jillian, your aunt has volunteered to become your guardian, until you're of age."

"No," she said as she squeezed Rob's hand and startled him by speaking. "I want to go with Rob."

"You'd be living in Brooklyn, munchkin," Rob said. "Where you don't know anyone but me."

Jill stared at him, took a deep breath, and let it out. "You. Dad... I knew Dad was sick. He was yellow and in pain, even if he lied and said he wasn't. He wouldn't let me call you, saying you needed to focus on your studies and Kristy, that the first year is the hardest. And Mom couldn't talk. She was right next to him when you called, Rob, signing at him." She made a face. "I'd never seen her do that much emphatic swearing at him with her hands."

Rob frowned at her. "She was?"

"Yes."

"And Dad... was yellow?"

"Yes."

Rob's frown deepened. "Darrell, I'm going to need that coroner's report, and for you to draw up guardianship papers."

"Already did the second one," Darrell told him with a smile as he handed a very thick envelop over, along with the will. "Wasn't sure which way it would swing, so I made up two sets. One for you, one for Aislinn. Welcome to parenthood?" Jill glared at him, and Darrell chuckled. "What? It isn't not true. And look! We got you to talk!"

* * *

69\. **Laugh**

* * *

Kristy followed Jill and Rob into a brick building that housed St. Joseph Family Medicine of Brewer, concerned that maybe both needed to stop and take a minute to breathe and adjust. She knew if she said anything, however, that both would simply stare at her.

Rob greeted the receptionist and asked for records request forms, three of them, and showed them the death certificates. "I need both my parents records, and Jill's to take to Brooklyn."

The receptionist studied the certificates, then handed them back to him, and disappeared momentarily. She was gone for a minute or so, and then returned with a brown-haired woman in tow, who nodded to Rob, then looked away, did some calculating with her eyes... "Can you give us about two hours, Rob? Go have lunch, walk around a bit, and come back, and we'll have them copied, hospital records included."

"Sure." He signed the release forms, then handed them back. "Thank you, Lorraine."

"Go on."

Outside, Kristy stared at him. "You know her?"

"One of Mom's friends," Jill muttered. "Quilting group."

Kristy paused and turned to her, eyebrows raised. "Quilting?"

"I want my quilt, Rob. Aunt Aislinn wouldn't let me go get it."

Rob chuckled. "Well, you didn't actually tell her you wanted it. And we'll pack what you want."

Jill nodded. "Okay." She glanced at Kristy, shrugged. "Sorry about not talking before."

Kristy pulled her into a hug. "Oh, sweetie! You can be as quiet as you want!"

* * *

70\. **Cry**

* * *

Seated again at the table in Aislinn's kitchen, Jill frowned at the cake presented to her with Congratulations! on it, and the presents. "Um..."

"You missed your 8th grade graduation in all of this," her Aunt explained. "We might not be having it the way you were meant to, but such milestones should be celebrated. Right Rob?"

"Right. Come on, Jill. Open them."

Jill opened the first one, only to stare at the baseball cap, t-shirt, sweatshirt, and windbreaker, all with Brewer High School logos. "But I'm not going to Brewer High-"

"Doesn't matter," Rob told her with a grin as Kristy picked up the baseball cap and looked at it in amusement. "And yes, you are so a Brewer Witch."

"Their mascot is a witch?" Kristy wondered and Rob nodded. "Love it."

Jill set the clothing aside, opened the next present to find a school backpack, and then opened the third present to find a quilt. She frowned, studied the quilting, and then looked at Aislinn with wide eyes.

"Mary picked out the fabric and the design," Aislinn explained as she unfolded the quilt to show Rob and Kristy. "...and Lorraine finished it for her."

Rob caught his sister's hand and simply held it as she stared at the colorful pattern that her mother had called "flock of seagulls", and for a moment she could hear both her parents laughing about it over a cup of coffee...

* * *

A/N: That Flock of Seagulls Quilt Pattern is a color-block design that goes from pink to blue to green to purple.  
...and now you know why Rob and Kristy were basically adopting Jill's pet rabbit in an earlier drabble set.


	15. UDC 8, Week 15 - Francesca Hazel

A/N: And then there was the silver lining, because there definitely was one... that being Hazel's newest grandbaby, Jane's oldest child Fran, born two days after Rob and Kristy were called to Maine by Aislinn.

* * *

Week Fifteen - A little one, a song or two, and hard things... [early June 1988]

* * *

71\. **First**

* * *

Jane smiled tiredly as she listened to her fiancé sing to their baby girl by the window of her hospital room. Was it only two days ago that she'd been with Kristy planning her wedding, only for both Kristy and Rob to have to leave for Maine in a hurry? It felt like a week! "Jeff?"

"Hmm?"

"I still want to call her Francesca."

Jeffrey smiled down at the baby in his arms, then looked out the window. "Why?"

"It was your grandmother's name."

He paused, then nodded. "Fran it is, then." He brought her back over to the bed, smiled at them both. "Francesca Hazel."

* * *

72\. **Impressions**

* * *

The impression she got as she studied the young girl silently shadowing Kristy into the living room was one of sadness. Her face was neutral, her body language hesitant... but her eyes told a story that Jane had no trouble interpreting. Something bad had happened, definitely, and she patted the cushion next to herself on the couch. Jill looked to Kristy in question, and Kristy pushed her with a nod. "Come on over here. Meet Fran."

"Fran?" Kristy asked, an undertone of 'you didn't call us!' in her voice that Jane knew she'd be explaining later.

"Yes," Jane answered as Jill sat down next to her and peered at the baby. "You want to hold her?" At the answering smile and nod, Jane carefully transferred her daughter into the teen's waiting arms. "Support her head. There you go."

* * *

73\. **Safer**

* * *

With Jill's attention focused on the newborn, Jane allowed herself to first look at Kristy, who had seated herself next to Jill, and then notice Rob, leaning into the frame of the entryway. She stared at him for a long moment, taking in how tight his shoulders were and how ill-at-ease he seemed, almost as if he was nauseous. "Rob, come here."

"Huh?"

"Come here."

His eyes flicked to Kristy, who nodded, and he slowly approached, then sat down in front of Jill and simply looked up at her as she held Fran.

* * *

74\. **Check**

* * *

Several minutes passed in silence before Jill started humming, and then she looked at Rob with an almost-smile. _"In by inch, row by row..."_

He nodded. _"...gonna make this garden grow."_ And then they were off, singing it in a round while Kristy and Jane listened with growing appreciation. For a moment, both could imagine the two of them having sung together like this before when they were younger.

The song wound down and Jill looked again at Fran, who was now looking back up at her sleepily. "Mom liked that one."

"She did," Rob agreed. "Both of them did."

* * *

75\. **Last**

* * *

Sounds of harmony roused William from his nap in an arm chair to find his grandson-in-law and his sister caught up in a two part harmony of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, very obviously singing to Fran. He smiled at that for a minute or two, then wondered where the infant's mother was.

Then William frowned at the sight of Kristy very emotionally hugging Jane in the kitchen. Slowly, in order not to attract attention of the singing twosome, William got up and went into the kitchen to find out what was up. The answer he got immediately was to be pulled into the hug by Jane.

* * *

A/N: Jill and Rob were singing "The Garden Song" by David Mallett, which was written in 1975. There's a fun clip of John Denver singing it during an episode of The Muppet Show on YouTube. (And Jane was at William and Rebecca's house, visiting.)


	16. UDC 8, Week 16 - As a family

A/N: The prompts permitted it, so here goes...

* * *

 **Week Sixteen** \- Getting through things as a family... [Concerning Hazel]

* * *

76\. **Mountain**

* * *

When Hazel looked up again from the rabbit in her arms, she was surprised to find Jill inspecting her arms. The girl had an unreadable expression, almost as if... "Jill-"

"Truth," the girl interrupted, and Hazel frowned. "Are you fine, Hazel?" Hazel slowly shook her head. "And do your doctors know?"

"I... yes."

Jill nodded slowly, reached out to pet Melly's head, then looked at Rebecca. "I'll be in the living room."

Rebecca watched her go, moved to say something, but William stopped her with a shake of his head. Just this once, they were going to let her get lost in a textbook...

* * *

77\. **River**

* * *

Alone in their living room, secure in his arms, Hazel let him lead as they danced slowly to a Sinatra record he'd put on. Dancing wasn't something that was coming easy to her any longer, but as she leaned into him, it didn't matter. Only the movements did, and suddenly they didn't need words to communicate, just their hands and the closeness.

At the end of the song, she raised her head and looked into Richard's smiling eyes. "Another?"

"You don't want to sit down?" She glared at him playfully and he chuckled. "All right. Another it is!"

* * *

78\. **Tree**

* * *

Arriving at her grandparents house with three of her little ones, Miriam found two of her elder brothers sitting with their grandmother in the living room. Overhearing the words "buns in the oven," she forgot herself momentarily and let out a startled gasp that drew the attention of all. Will chuckled and held his arms open for Maureen, while Albert ran to Carl. "Um..."

"Your brothers were just telling me their news," Hazel told her patiently, smiling. "Now give me my grandbaby."

Miriam did exactly that and placed one year old Joseph carefully onto her grandmother's lap.

* * *

79\. **Earth**

* * *

When Kristy pulled an unfamiliar woman into her hospital room during one of her inpatient stays, Hazel frowned. It was odd that one of her nieces would bring someone she didn't know to see her... "Kristy?"

"This is Aislinn," Kristy explained as Aislinn sat down in one of the not-very-comfortable chairs and opened the bag she'd been carrying. "One of Rob and Jill's aunts."

Hazel nodded slowly and frowned again when Aislinn handed her patterns for wedding dresses. "I don't understand..."

Aislinn smiled. "My niece talked a blue streak after Rob's wedding, and these were Mary's favorite patterns. I know it's years off, Mrs. Foster, but I wanted an opinion. Yours."

They spent the whole afternoon discussing dress details.

* * *

80\. **Horizon**

* * *

She set her son on the bed next to Hazel and simply watched as the woman smiled fondly back at her, raising her hand to catch the six month old's hand in hers. "Gonna be a strong one."

"He is," Hazel affirmed, her voice faint. "Just like you."

Martha paused, wanting to say something, anything. Words failed her, and she sank down into a chair. "I'm not."

"Yes. You are. Even if it doesn't feel like it."

Martha tried to smile, but the look in Hazel's eyes reminded her of a cold day in front of a casket, trying to hold everything together and learning that strong had different meanings at times. Sometimes it meant just being there in that moment when everything fell apart and not falling apart yourself.


	17. UDC 8, Week 17 - Expected Teen Crisis

A/N: I wanted to go for something fun, but this set wanted something else. Turns out... yep. I left something in a previous set and it needed to be addressed. All of the mentioned news articles are real, from the New York Times, August 1988.

* * *

 **Week Seventeen** \- An expected crisis...

* * *

81\. **History**

* * *

The couch cushions shifted as someone joined her, and she didn't have to look up to know who it was. Not after she'd made a scene like that. "I'm fine."

"If you say so," William said with a rustle of his newspaper, and Jill glanced at him first, then up to see both Hazel and Rebecca watching from the kitchen doorway. She flinched and looked down at the text book, the sting of unshed tears betraying her.

Slowly, she closed the book and stared at it. "William?"

"Hmmm?" He watched her over the top of his reading glasses as she slowly set the book down.

* * *

82\. **Write**

* * *

Hazel frowned at William, wondering why he was shaking his head at her while Jill, clearly disturbed and silently crying, stared at the text book she'd set down. She leaned a little closer to her sister, whispered... "Why isn't he doing anything other than watching her?"

"Wait," Rebecca whispered back, which didn't answer the question, and took Melly from her. "I'll go put him away, now."

Hazel turned to watch her go, then turned her attention back to the two on the couch. The teenager hadn't moved, and William was still watching her while pretending to read the newspaper. Catching her eye, he nodded to one of the arm chairs.

* * *

83\. **Archive**

* * *

"What are you reading?" Hazel wondered after long minutes had passed in silence, and she wasn't surprised when the sound of her voice caused Jill to flinch, and then blink in her direction.

William glanced over, nodded, and looked at his newspaper. "Among other things having to do with the Middle East... Bobby Allison is home in Talladega after that speedway crash in Pennsylvania, and an Andrea Bass was wed to a James Glickson at the Pierre. Oh, and the school system lost a 90 year old educator..."

Jill slowly turned, frowning. "What were the Middle East things?"

"So you don't want to hear about Animators breaking old rules and new ground with Roger Rabbit?"

* * *

84. **Artifact**

* * *

Jill stared at him, stunned. "How do you do that?"

William glanced at her. "Do what?"

"Act like nothing is wrong."

"Is something wrong?" He watched her eyes flicker to Hazel and back. "Go and sit with her. Talk, Jill. Use your words."

"But-"

"Go." He glared at her mildly, then returned his attention to the paper. "Huh... Barbara Jordan is doing better. Good."

"Who?"

At his answering silence, she slowly stood, knowing he'd continue to explain nothing for as long as he wanted to, to make a point. She'd wonder who Barbara Jordan was for a long while...

* * *

85\. **Memory**

* * *

Hazel watched as Jill pulled one of the chairs from the kitchen table into the living room and brought it over to sit next to her armchair. She started to speak, but Jill held up a hand, shook her head, and then gripped her hand tightly and simply stared at it for a minute. "Jill?"

"It's hard," she whispered. "I know you're not her. Not them, but... I was in the kitchen when Mom lost her voice. One minute she was singing at the sink, the next... silence. And it was never that quiet in our house. Ever."

Hazel paused, stunned at that admission. "When was that?"

"Late April." Jill barely had time to blink when Hazel pulled her into the arm chair and into a solid hug.


	18. UDC 8, Week 18 - Meetings

**Qweb** : So, so much trauma. Totally.

* * *

 **Week 18** \- Meet... the Boy, One Parent, and his Little Sister...

* * *

86\. **Air**

* * *

The chart handed to her was one for a medical student, Kristy observed as she pushed through the door and into the clinic's waiting area. She frowned as she looked at the waiting patients... parents with children mostly, two elderly, and a sleeping guy in the far corner of the room. Glancing down at the chart again, she wondered... "Mister Mackenzie?" When none of the others acknowledged the name, she marched over to the sleeping man and shook him awake. He blinked sleepily at her. "Your turn, Mister Mackenzie."

"You're cute," he said, staring at her in a sleepy daze.

* * *

87. **Life**

* * *

She paused, hand on his shoulder. Then she smiled. "Thank you. Now come on."

"You don't look like a Dentist," he mumbled as he stood.

Kristy felt like laughing, but instead led the way to the door. Once safely away from the prying ears of patients, she turned and looked up at him again, smiling. "I'm not, yet. And, pardon me for saying so, but you're living up to the medical student stereotype. Were you up late studying?"

He nodded. "And this ache... too much pain."

She led the way to her assigned exam room.

* * *

88\. **Hair**

* * *

"There you are! I'd know that hair anywhere."

The intrusion caused Kristy to look up from the textbook she was reading while eating lunch in an off-campus cafe. She frowned at the now-familiar Mr. Mackenzie, carrying a textbook of his own... and also a flower. "Oh, it's you. What's with the flower?"

"This is a lunch date, is it not?" He wondered as he handed it to her.

Kristy laughed and accepted it. "Close enough!"

He glanced behind her, smiled. "Hope you don't mind if my Dad joins us. He drove in from Bangor this morning for a weekend visit and brought my sister."

"What?" She spun in her seat and came face to face with a very young girl who was grinning, and an older man who Rob resembled. "Oh."

* * *

89\. **Conviction**

* * *

Rob introduced his father and ten-year-old sister to Kristy, and smirked when Jill launched into question after question while Kristy tried her best to answer them all. His father leaned in closer to him. "Have you met her family yet, Son?"

"No he hasn't," Kristy answered, smiling knowingly. "But I can arrange that. Rob, why didn't you tell me they were coming?"

"Dad surprised me this morning before class," Rob admitted.

Kristy glanced at his father, eyebrows raised. "Is that so? You'll love my Grandmother, then, sir. She'd probably do that, too."

* * *

90. **Sunshine**

* * *

Lillian studied the young man seated on her couch as he entertained his little sister with stories for long minutes, then turned to look at her eldest daughter with a smile. "And you met this one, how? For that matter, why am I only just meeting him now?"

Kristy sighed. "I've known him a month and he was sleeping in the clinic waiting room. We're not even dating yet!"

"Ah. You said 'yet.' As in 'it's going to happen...'"

"I approve," Eugene said from her other side while Kristy sighed dramatically at both of them. "And clearly, he loves kids."

Lillian glanced at the young man's father, and noticed he was thoroughly enjoying the moment.


	19. UDC 8, Week 19 - Oh to be ten and aware

**Week Nineteen** \- Oh to be ten years old and aware...

* * *

91\. **Banter**

* * *

Winifred peeked into the dining room and simply watched as her son-in-law and a girl she'd watched grow up in the same neighborhood talked and caught up. It warmed her heart to see them connecting as people who had shared the same love and loss... to see that Emma wasn't forgotten. A hand on her shoulder and she turned to meet the eyes of her daughters. "They seem to be getting on."

"Let's leave them to it, hmmm?" Hazel suggested. "You can occupy Mark with stories, we'll see to the younger ones."

Winifred glanced at Mark, who was standing by the stove with his arms crossed. Where had he learned that form of pouting? "Come on, Mark. Let's go sit on the couch."

* * *

92. **Accuse**

* * *

Mark glared up at his grandmother, then glared at the door she'd closed the rest of the way to give even more privacy. "What about them?"

Hazel sighed. "Mark, we are giving them time to talk. Your father needs that."

"But-" A glare silenced him as Rebecca tapped him on the shoulder and pointed toward the living room. He blinked at her, startled, then nodded and went.

Rebecca stood up and looked at her mother. "I think you'll be having an interesting talk."

Winifred nodded. "I think so, too." She followed him into the living room.

* * *

93\. **Offend**

* * *

Natalie tugged on Rebecca's hand and she looked down at her. "What's wrong with Mark? Dinner was good!"

Rebecca knelt down to her eye level and hugged the seven year old with her free arm. "Nothing's wrong with Mark, Natalie. And you're right. Dinner was very good."

"Then why-"

"He's having a moment," Rebecca interrupted as she pulled back and looked at her. "And something upset him."

Natalie stared at her aunt for a very long moment before nodding. "Oh."

"Do you want to help me with David? He needs a bath."

Natalie blinked, then looked at her little brother, also being held by her aunt in her other arm. "Okay!"

Hazel watched as Natalie practically pulled Rebecca from the room, then looked down at three-year-old Gilbert seated on her lap, playing with her free hand.

* * *

94. **Compliment**

* * *

Winifred entered the living room to find Mark seated on the couch, holding two books and staring at them. Slowly, she sat down beside him and waited. When he didn't look up, she leaned over and realized that one of the books was new, while the other was dog-eared and kind of beat up, as if it had been read many times. "Mark?"

"Mom liked 'em," he explained. "She had been reading Anne of Green Gables with me and Natalie, and..." He blinked, frowned at her. "Who is Steve?"

Winifred paused, looking at him. "Did Emma talk about Steve with you?"

Mark nodded. "Mom said I should like books as much as Steve did, but she never explained."

Now it made sense, and Winifred allowed herself to relax into the couch cushions.

* * *

95\. **Confide**

* * *

She gestured for the books, and Mark handed both to her. She smiled at the newer one. "Steve was a family friend, Mark. He lived with us for a while after his mother died. And he was sick, often, so he read a lot."

"Oh." Mark ran a finger along the spine of Charlotte's Webb. "Where is he now?"

She'd been ready for that question, but it still hurt to have to answer it. "That... he's gone, Mark. He was a soldier, and..." The expression on Mark's young face gave her pause. "Do you want to read with me?"

"Yes."


	20. UDC 8, Week 20 - Small Steps

**Week Twenty** \- UDC 8 - Small steps to think about bigger ones...

* * *

96\. **Outrage**

* * *

Sitting here in his own home, at the table, felt so normal. For a moment, he could let himself forget... and then her hand brushed his and he blinked at her, startled. She drew her hand away slightly. "I lost you for a moment, didn't I?"

Victor looked away, bile rising in his throat. "I..."

"Victor, look at me." The steel in her tone caused him to obey, and then her hands were cradling his. "It's natural to mourn. You and she told me that, remember? If it's too soon, then I will simply be a friend and nothing more."  
He found himself nodding in acceptance. Put that way, it didn't feel like a betrayal.

* * *

97\. **Outright**

* * *

As he saw Hannah out, they both heard voices coming from the living room. Victor paused momentarily and looked in to find his mother-in-law and oldest son reading together in a sight so familiar that his eyes stung. A soft push from behind caused him to spin and stare at her, and she nodded into the living room. "Go on and join them. I'll see myself out."

"It's rude-"

"Your son needs you," Hannah told him gently. "And you need this. Go on." She watched him enter the living room and sit down in an armchair close to the couch.

* * *

98\. **Maps**

* * *

"Why do we have to learn this?"

Hannah paused in washing a plate to turn and look at Mark, seated at the table with a textbook, open to a map of the 48 U.S. States. Victor had had to work late, so she'd volunteered to babysit with Mark's help for the evening. "Because history is good for you. Makes you think."

"It's dumb," Mark complained. "Why do I need to know the Capital of California? It's not like I'm ever actually going there!"

Hannah fought an urge to chuckle at him as she dried her hands and paused to check on where Natalie and Gilbert were, then picked David up off the floor where he'd been playing with a toy at her feet. "Maybe not. And... Sacramento. Repeat, please."

"Hannah!"

"What? I'm serious." She sat down next him, smiled. "Dave here wants you to tell him all about State Capitals!"

Mark eyed his little brother. "He's a year old and can't even talk correctly yet."

"Too?" David asked, staring wide-eyed at Mark.

Hannah laughed and hugged him. "Yes, David! Too!"

* * *

99\. **Keys**

* * *

A familiar man was waiting at her apartment door when she dragged herself home after a long shift on the ward, and Hannah smiled tiredly as she fumbled for her apartment key. "Who has the kids?"

"Winifred has Dave and Gil," Victor answered, shifting the bag he was holding from hand to hand. "Mark is at Becca's, and Natalie is with Hazel."

She eyed the bag, then unlocked the door and let him in. "What's the occasion?"

"Dinner," Victor admitted as he moved to unpack the food. "Do you like cheesecake?"

Hannah set her things down and frowned at the containers. He'd gone to Juniors, just to bring dinner to her? "Of course I like Cheesecake. Is that brisket I smell? Victor, you shouldn't have!"

"Why not? It's what friends do, after all. Have dinner together?"

Somehow, she got the feeling it was more than that...

* * *

100. **Home**

* * *

After dinner, Victor pulled another box out of the bag and handed it to her. She frowned at him as she opened it, only to pause at the ring nestled on a square of velvet along with a key. "What is this?"

"I like you," he admitted after a moment. "The kids like you."

Hannah stared at him. "Mark barely tolerates me."

"He's coming around," Victor said with a smile that caused her to blink, startled. His smiles hadn't gone all the way to his eyes since before... "And I'm willing to take the next step if you are. Move in with us?"

"So this isn't a proposal?"

"This," Victor told her as he pulled the simple ring out of the box and showed it to her. "Is first step to think about a bigger one. You were right, you know. I wasn't ready when Rebecca and Winifred and Hazel pushed us together the way they did. I might be, now."

Slowly, she leaned closer and cupped his cheek with her hand. She wanted to ask what brought this on, what had changed over the months since that awkward first dinner. Wanted to, but was willing to wait for those answers. That he was asking at all meant something. "Then... yes."


	21. UDC1, Week 13 - Victor and Hannah

A/N: I left off with Hannah and Victor in an odd place in their relationship, so...

* * *

Week 13 (09.29.06) - UDC 1 - Victor Nettleton and Hannah Bailey

* * *

61\. kiss

* * *

As he stood in the doorway, listening as Hannah read a story to all four of the children, Victor couldn't help but reflect on why she'd say no but still move in with them. It wasn't that they didn't like one another, or that either of them were scared to take a chance... he remembered coming home one evening to find Emma and Hannah seated at the kitchen table, deep in conversation. Greg had left her. Had disappeared from Brooklyn, in fact, without a trace. Six months later, Franklin had been born. Five months after that...

"Victor?" Hannah's voice drew him back to the present and he blinked at her. "Come join us?"

* * *

62\. hug

* * *

Hannah watched as he sat down on the edge of the bed, and then she passed the book to him, while hugging Gilbert and Natalie closer. Mark was on Natalie's other side, holding David. As he continued where she'd left off, Hannah smiled at how natural it came to him. It was one of the things that had made her say yes to his sort-of proposal. For now, it was enough, to share him with four kids that she loved as if they were her own. Did she want him as well? She was starting to.

* * *

63\. smile

* * *

Victor glanced away from the book for a moment to find her smiling wistfully, and smiled back. Then he noticed Mark, frowning at both of them, and made a decision. "How about you read?"

Mark blinked in surprise, and then they exchanged sleepy toddler and book. He frowned at the book. "But I can't do the voices like you and Hannah do."

"Just read, Mark."

As Mark read another chapter of Anne of Green Gables, Victor cradled David in his arms and enjoyed the moment. There would be time enough for other concerns... tomorrow.

* * *

64\. frown

* * *

In the hallway after they'd gotten everyone into bed and settled, Hannah leaned into him for long moments. She wanted to ask how he'd done that, made everything feel normal, but couldn't find the words. She wanted to ask him why her. Why did he want her in his life, in the lives of his children, after she'd lost her own unexpectedly. In the end, she simply stood there and didn't flinch when he put his arms around her.

"Victor?"

"Hmm...?"

"Give me time."

He frowned down at her, and then nodded. "For?"

She shook her head and didn't answer immediately.

* * *

65\. laugh

* * *

It was a year and a half almost to the day when she finally raised the topic again, this time by sending all of the children to their grandmother and aunts and fixing dinner just for the two of them. Victor smiled when she laughed at one of his stories about things going on at work, and then she handed him a small box. "What is this for?"

"Open it."

He did, and frowned at the two rings laying there in the case. "Hannah?"

"Will you marry me, Victor Nettleton?" At his continued frown that was slowly blossoming into a smile, she shrugged. "It was my turn to ask you."

At that, he had to chuckle. "I guess it was."

"Well?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now tell me more about your day."

And so he did...


End file.
